we have seen it with fielder, Hamilton, ... Every year linked to a big bat. Every year the mariners give more money to these players by just putting their hat in the ring. Then their agent say look at what the mariners offered. Then they meet in the middle and the mariners get used again. Be prepared, Willie bloomquist is our big signing this year. Who wants to come here to be in 4th place.

m0ng0 wrote:so how about a list of players the team should be looking at? the cano move seems as popular as the bloomquist signing talk to me fans of the mariners who is out there that is a good fit?

We need power and no power want to come. We get overpaid average players with some contact and defense. I'm a huge mariners fan, but it's simple NO wants to come here other than some pitchers for a stop gap to try and lower their ERA. People use their no trade clause and don't come here. It's been a hard decade.

I'm reading more on it and I'm for the acquisition of Cano (not the trade for Price though, I feel like if we are going to trade a young pitcher it should be Paxton and for hitting).

If Cano is part of a broader plan to bring in 2-3 top players and simply ceiling the teams salary this year in the hopes of saving jobs than screw it. if it doesnt work? what else is new. Weve been rebuilding poorly for several years. Atleast this is a change.

I would agree with the 2 above posts. We need to keep what we have and spend to improve. Our history as of late with trades is at best a wash with the return. I am afraid that Z maybe in panic mode to save his job and will now go for "win now at all costs "

Blitzer88 wrote:Well reports are that he is in Seattle today and the M's are willing to offer 10 years at 240-250 mil. That's a whole lot of dough!

Seems like ARod 2.0 offer. Maybe Cano can find a party crew here in the PNW? I see this as a negotiation ploy on his part, to see if he can get the Yankees to move up their evaluation of his worth. We will see.

Also, did the Mariners not see what happened to the Angels with Albert Pujols? Lincoln and Armstrong and Jack Z all hate us. Are they 49ers fans? Are they all close buddies with David Stern? We'll be paying a 41-year-old second baseman 20M if he takes this deal?

Geez, I hope Nintendo sells a hell of a lot more WiiUs.

"If given the opportunity without fear of incarceration, I would honestly beat the living **** out of Jerry Rice."

I'm not a huge Mariners fan, but I had a friend just text me about his friend with a source saying Cano has signed with Seattle. Basically, Cano responded to a joking, congratulatory text mistakenly thinking the source knew something he really didn't with, "Thanks. I'm happy to be a Mariner".

It could be bullshit, so take it for what it's worth. I imagine by tomorrow word will get out either way whether it's true.

"People who don't punch their ponies in the face make me sick." - Louis C.K.

You know if they don't sign him, they will just blow the money on worthless guys like Ibanez and Morse and Joe Saunders. I have ZERO confidence that they know how to fill out a roster of good players. They overpay these guys anyway, might as well sign one of the best players in baseball.

You can build around Cano. And he has a way higher chance of being productive for the next 5 years than Pujols (age) and Hamilton (inconsistency) had. If you are going to throw a ton of money at someone, Cano is as good as you're going to find.

Sign him and you have a great player to put other pieces around. If he tanks, you can eat some cash and dump him on another team (like the Tigers just did with the Fielder contract).

It's worth the overpay. It breaks the cycle we're stuck in of overpaying for guys no one else wants who absolutely suck.

Cano and his camp arrived in Seattle with what sources described as basically an eight-year deal for $200 million in hand and the assurances that Seattle would go to nine years and $225 million. But when Jay Z then upped the ante to 10 years for $252 million, Mariners president Howard Lincoln apparently "exploded," according to one of the sources, and ended the meeting.

The Mariners have to overcome a lot to win Cano, so they need to open their wallet big time. And it's not just that they're the Mariners and the Yankees are the Yankees. Consider ...

• It is well known that the new Cano agent Jay Z badly wanted Cano in New York, where he can presumably take full advantage of his marketing ideas, whatever they may be, and where Cano can be close to him.

• Cano's father Jose Cano, who played for the Houston Astros, and who's something of a stage father, badly wanted Cano in New York, too, and Cano listens to his father.

• Seattle is a long way from the 40-40 club and other New York City haunts Cano loves to frequent (and it isn't even known if he's a coffee drinker).

• Seattle is a long way from New York, and an even longer way from the Dominican Republic.

• Safeco Field historically has been one of the worst parks for hitters in the majors (though they lowered the fences and moved them in a bit last year). One baseball person wondered whether he could jeopardize his Hall-of-Fame chances by going from a 30-homer guy to 20.

• The Mariners still couldn't offer him much in the way of lineup protection.While they are trying for other big players such as Matt Kemp and Nelson Cruz, their best player at present is Kyle Seager.

• They are the Mariners. They've been crummy four straight years and have never made a World Series, contrasting with the Yankees, who have only missed the playoffs twice since 1995 and averaged 96 wins in that period.

The Yankees wont give him the 9 year the Ms offered nor the 10 year offer Jay Z wants. Cano might not be a Mariner, but I doubt he's a Yankee for anything more than a 7 year deal.

It signals another turn in the increasingly frustrating yet ultimately comical wheel that is the Mariners. What frustrates me the most is that Jack Z continues to try and nab the Fielder, Hamilton, and now Cano deals instead of taking the money he would have spent there and improving the team in other ways. In each of the first two attempts, once Fielder and Hamilton moved on (and thankfully in hindsight) their was no significant back up plan to spend that money.. only Ibanez and Morse. Why is he so incessant on spending on one guy? If you're willing to spend 25 million per year then cant it be done elsewhere if Cano doesnt work out? thats what scares me, is Jack Z will shut down if/when this doesnt work instead of dutifully applying the 25 million in a more constructive and creative manner.

Uncle Si wrote:The Yankees wont give him the 9 year the Ms offered nor the 10 year offer Jay Z wants. Cano might not be a Mariner, but I doubt he's a Yankee for anything more than a 7 year deal.

It signals another turn in the increasingly frustrating yet ultimately comical wheel that is the Mariners. What frustrates me the most is that Jack Z continues to try and nab the Fielder, Hamilton, and now Cano deals instead of taking the money he would have spent there and improving the team in other ways. In each of the first two attempts, once Fielder and Hamilton moved on (and thankfully in hindsight) their was no significant back up plan to spend that money.. only Ibanez and Morse. Why is he so incessant on spending on one guy? If you're willing to spend 25 million per year then cant it be done elsewhere if Cano doesnt work out? thats what scares me, is Jack Z will shut down if/when this doesnt work instead of dutifully applying the 25 million in a more constructive and creative manner.

That's the point I was trying to make above. Z does not know how to build a team if he doesn't get the big bat. All the guys that would be perfect fits to fill out the roster are left sitting out there and then they sign with other teams for great, cheap deals.

And then Z blows his cash wad on all these horrible signings.

At least if he's going to blow the budget on someone, I would rather it be someone who is actually good since Z is blind to all the other great talent sitting out there.

Uncle Si wrote:The Yankees wont give him the 9 year the Ms offered nor the 10 year offer Jay Z wants. Cano might not be a Mariner, but I doubt he's a Yankee for anything more than a 7 year deal.

It signals another turn in the increasingly frustrating yet ultimately comical wheel that is the Mariners. What frustrates me the most is that Jack Z continues to try and nab the Fielder, Hamilton, and now Cano deals instead of taking the money he would have spent there and improving the team in other ways. In each of the first two attempts, once Fielder and Hamilton moved on (and thankfully in hindsight) their was no significant back up plan to spend that money.. only Ibanez and Morse. Why is he so incessant on spending on one guy? If you're willing to spend 25 million per year then cant it be done elsewhere if Cano doesnt work out? thats what scares me, is Jack Z will shut down if/when this doesnt work instead of dutifully applying the 25 million in a more constructive and creative manner.

To be honest, this tendency alone spurs me more than anything on z. He originally seemed like a thoughtful, patient gm with a long term focus on farm development and only thoughtful fa signings. As years have gone on, those qualities are no longer to be found, and it reeks of desperation.